People who know me know that I love podcasts. One that I really enjoy is Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. If you are a Harry Potter fan, I highly recommend this podcast.

The hosts, Vanessa Zoltan and Casper ter Kuile, don’t just talk about the books; they talk about them as if they are sacred, as if we can find wisdom and revelation in them. A book doesn’t necessarily have to sanctified by someone or some organization to be sacred. They read the books, one chapter per week, and then examine the chapter in details through a theme, like forgiveness, love, humor, loneliness, commitment, being a stranger, change, confusion, etc.

Another thing they do is draw sacred practices from different traditions, practices that were designed to be used with that tradition’s sacred text, and use them with the Harry Potter stories. One that most of us are familiar with is Lectio Divina. Another is Ignation Contemplation, which is very similar to something many tarot lovers already do: imagine the scene and put yourself in it.

Vanessa and Casper introduced me (through their podcast) to a new practice called Pardes. It’s from the Jewish tradition and is a method for exploring a specific passage in a text, usually the Torah. It is such an easy thing to extrapolate this practice to a tarot card.

It is only four steps. I almost said “four easy steps” but I don’t think they are necessarily easy. Spiritual reading and contemplation isn’t like vegging out binge watching The Magicians or something (however, it is also an activity I can recommend).

Derash/Seek: this is a fun one! With this one, you look for resonances or similar occurrences of a symbol or some aspect of the text, or in our case card, that runs throughout the text. For example, if you are doing Pardes to the King of Swords, you may think about crowns that occur in the other cards in the deck or with the Fool, you may think about other times red and white flowers or a companion animal are present.

Sod/Secret or Mystery: This is a message that is given through inspiration or revelation (or intuition)

Give it a try and let me know what you thought. Better yet, try it with some friends or a meet up group. Enjoy!

May you always find new ways to see the beauty in the things you love.

In tarot everything can mean something. Most readers understand that the suits all have a specific energy. Likewise, so do the numbers. If you are like me, some numbers are easier to get than others. Fours have always been easy for me. A four-legged chair is more stable than a three-legged stool. Stability, security, and safety are associated with the number four. It's negative extreme is stagnation.

In our fast-paced world, we are more apt to keep the screen moving, keep scrolling, keep breathing in more and more information than we are to pause, to dive deeply, to process.

Because of this, it might be good to consider the positive advice that we can find in the 4s.

​All the images used are from the Llewellyn's Classic Tarot, illustrated by Eugene Smith.

It is featured in a kit with my new book, Your Tarot Your Way. Clicking on the image will take you to Amazon via my affiliate link.

The number four is not just about stability or stagnation. It is also about stopping the flow of energy. Energy stopped for too long leads to stagnation. But in a world where energy is encouraged to move at a frenetic rate, I don't think we will hurt anything by slowing down a little. In fact, just the opposite. There are great benefits to slowing down.

4 of Wands

We have access to so much information on how to be more productive each day and how to achieve more of our goals than ever before. Getting things done and manifesting our ideas is so fulfilling. This is what the suit of Wands is all about: our projects and our passions.

While we are getting more things done than ever before, it would seem that we would be celebrating more than ever. Or are we so focus on the next task that we forget to celebrate our achievements?

When the energy of Wands stands still for a moment, look at the beautiful experience it creates. Make sure you stop to reward yourself or a loved for a job well done.

4 of Cups

When readers see this card, the first reaction is usually: oh, you are bored and dissatisfied with what you have and you should take the gift that is right under your nose. In a reading, sure, that's a great way to interpret this card.

As a life lesson, we might see it differently. Instead of grabbing your favorite pacifier, pause and acknowledge your emotions. Name them without judgment. Allow yourself to feel them.

When we have things we don't want to deal with, it is tempting to look for distractions to avoid processing our less pleasurable emotions. Ignoring them means they stick around and fester, and that's even less pleasurable.

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4 of Swords

Our phones are wonderful, aren't they? I love mine a lot, particularly listening to podcasts and audiobooks. Since I am not on social media, this is a major way I feed my need to take in information. Others may use news feeds, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.

Having so much information in our pockets 24/7 is such a gift. It can also be a huge burden. We have to consumer so much media (regular or social) just to keep up.

We don't always remember to allow time to digest what we've consumed. Take a lesson from this card and give yourself time to reflect on what you've read or watched. Roll it around in your head, explore all the implications, or even journal about it.

4 of Pentacles

This card is almost always seen as negative, as a hoarder or selfish person. A positive aspect is "saving for a rainy day."

It's true that the energy of the Pentacles can be prone to stagnation. We should remember this and remember that very often our non-physical experiences can energetically lodge in our bodies. It can be very illuminating to pause and scan your body. You might find that you're holding onto an emotional experience from yesterday or harboring anxiety about a meeting tomorrow.

It's easy to ignore the small (or even large) messages from the body. Take an aspirin or whatever. Instead, honor the messages and deal with the cause.

A Blessing from the Fours

May you take the time to celebrate your achievements.
May you acknowledge and honor your emotions.
May you allow your mind time to integrate ideas.
May you listen to the wisdom of your body.

Llewellyn's 2018 Tarot Calendar

It's absolutely too early to start thinking about 2018, isn't it?

It may be early, but it is available for pre-order and will be ready later this summer

Sometimes in publishing, you have to keep your mouth shut about things and it was really hard keeping my mouth shut about this project because I LOVED working on it so much! Everything about this was fun. Even the committee meetings! Yes, I know! But everyone was super excited and creative. We came up with fabulous ideas. I got to pick out cards that I was aching to talk about. ​

There are four different page designs, so there is a lot of variety. Each design includes a card, of course. In addition, there might be a spread, a short essay, tips and techniques, specific symbol studies, and all kinds of good stuff.

Don't take my word for it. Here are a few examples. I can't wait to hear what you think!